Main menu

Waco Mammoth National Monument

Waco Mammoth National Monument

The newest park in Texas took decades to become a national park but marks one of the most significant mammoth site in North America. It was a partnership with Baylor University and the City of Waco that began the preservation of this important new park.

The Waco Mammoth National Monument was discovered when two friends were hiking on private land and found a mammoth bone in 1978. These young hikers had no idea when they first carried the bone from that area what they had found. That bone led to an extraordinary discovery.

At this site, at least 18 mammoths died here from a single event. Paleontologists have discovered 23 mammoths here. This is a find like nothing else in the world.

“The story of the Waco Mammoths is very emotional and very amazing,” said Raegan King, who works with the city to administer Waco Mammoth. “We have the world’s only nursery herd of mammoths, of Columbian mammoths. What makes that unusual is that it tells you about the behavior of these long-extinct animals.”

For 37 years, the site was studied and protected by a growing list of partners. In July 2015, the mammoths finally received the designation everyone was waiting for — President Obama declared the site a National Monument.